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450 Rubén González Cuerva

Fig. 3. Anon., Vassalage of King Alhamar of Granada before Ferdinand III of Castile,
Chapel of Saint Catherine, Cathedral of Burgos (mid-14th century)

In contrast with Iberian tradition, Charles V’s contemporary and
rival, the French king Francis I, never met his ally the Ottoman sultan
Süleyman the Magnificent. They communicated indirectly through
agents and ambassadors perhaps to prevent the humiliating image of
the submission of a Christian king before an “Infidel” ruler.
After the conquest of Granada in 1492, the Castilian tradition of
satellite Muslim kingdoms moved to North Africa, where the kingdoms
of Bejaia and Tlemcen (in current Algeria) were formally under
Castilian protectorate from 1510 . The relationship between the
11
Spanish Monarchy and the Kingdom of Tunis was not clearly
established before 1534, but some records remain showing that there
were contacts. For example, Mulay Hassan employed the Sicilian
noble Visconte Cicala as his ambassador with the Knights of St John,
and cooperated with them to contain Ottoman expansion .
12

11 Charles V to the Marquis of Comares, 17 January 1534, Ags, E, 28, f. 132; J.M.
Escribano Páez, Negotiating with the “Infidel”: Imperial Expansion and Cross-
Confessional Diplomacy in the Early Modern Maghreb (1492-1516), «Itinerario» 40:2
(2016), pp. 192-194, 200-203.
12 J.A. de Funes, Coronica de la ilustrissima milicia y sagrada religion de San Juan
Bautista de Jerusalem..., Pedro Verges, Zaragoza, 1639, vol. II, pp. 95-97.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Agosto 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)